Two international airlines called off flights to Cairo on Monday due to the US strikes on Afghanistan, an airport official said, while security at the city's international airport was stepped up, reported AFP.

Flights from Singapore on Singapore Airlines and from Doha on Gulf Air were cancelled, said the official, who asked not to be named.

It was unclear if the decisions were temporary measures. But traffic through Cairo airport only registered a slight reduction after the US-led strikes on targets in Afghanistan, officials said.

Security at Cairo airport was stepped up further after the strikes, an AFP reporter said, after earlier reinforcements were sent following the anti-US terror attacks.

Police were out in force around planes on the tarmac while inspectors carried out manual searches of baggage.

Early last week, EgyptAir passenger numbers were reported to have fallen by 40 percent since the September 11 airborne attacks in the United States, forcing the national carrier to cut some scheduled flights.

Mohammed Fahim Rayan told the Associated Press that EgyptAir had suspended its twice-weekly Los Angeles flights and scaled down its weekly runs to the Japanese city of Osaka from two to one.

AFP reported on September 24 that the national carrier had cut operations by 15 percent following the airborne suicide attacks.

Insurance companies have asked EgyptAir to pay ten times more for premiums.

EgyptAir was trying to obtain an exemption in exchange for a guarantee from the Egyptian government to the insurance firms, officials have said.

Following the September 11 attacks, EgyptAir announced it would not go ahead with the purchase of two Boeing 777s, which were to have been delivered this month.

The company had taken out a loan of $160 million to buy the two aircraft, added AFP – Albawaba.com